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UMass' 7-0 Start Its Best Since 1982 NCAA Championship
Season

from press release

AMHERST, Mass. - Three Minutewomen
recorded hat tricks as the 18th-ranked UMass women's lacrosse team
picked up its seventh straight victory with a 19-11 win over
American University in a non-conference contest on Tuesday
afternoon at McGuirk Stadium.

The Minutewomen are now 7-0, marking their best start since 1982
when they finished the season with a 10-0 record and won the NCAA
national championship.

Katie Ferris, Nina Sarcona, and Sam Rush each
scored three goals while Lauren Terracciano tallied two
goals and three assists for a team-high five points. Ferris, who
entered the contest ranked second in the nation with 32 points,
added an assist as well and did not play in the second half. In
total, nine different Minutewomen found the net as UMass outshot
American, 34-17, in the first-ever meeting between the two
teams.

UMass controlled 22 of 32 draws, led by Sarcona's nine draw
controls. Tanner Guarino and Ali Houlis chipped
in five draw controls apiece with Guarino notching two goals and
two assists and Houlis collecting her first goal of the year.

Leading 3-2 at the 22:42 mark in the first half, the Minutewomen
ran off 13 consecutive goals and held the Eagles scoreless over a
22:21 stretch to build up a 16-2 advantage.

The Eagles snapped their scoring drought with 21 seconds
remaining in the first half on a strike by Lauren Schoenberger to
make it a 16-3 contest at intermission.

American came out firing in the second half, tallying four goals
over the first 10 minutes of the period to trim their deficit to
16-7. The Eagles also scored four of the game's final five goals as
they outscored UMass, 10-9, in the second half, but the Minutewomen
were able to hang on for the victory.

Bernadette Maher and Kimberly Collins combined to score nine of
American's 11 goals as the Eagles dropped to 3-4 on the year. Maher
tallied five goals and one assist while Collins netted a hat trick
and added four helpers.

Katie Florence started in goal for UMass and made three
saves in the first half. A pair of freshmen, Jamie
Schiloski and Rachel Valarelli, split the second half between
the pipes. For American, Kaska Komisinski stopped five shots.

The Minutewomen return to action on Saturday afternoon when they
travel to Evanston, Ill. to take on top-ranked Northwestern at 1
p.m.